Welsh language

Welsh
Cymraeg, y Gymraeg
Native to	Wales and Argentina.
Region	Spoken throughout Wales, in border-towns between England and Wales, and in the Chubut province of Argentina.
Native speakers	721,700 total speakers (2011) — Wales: 562,000 speakers, 19.0% of the population of Wales,[1] with 14.6% of the population (431,000) considering themselves fluent in Welsh — England: 150,000[2] — Chubut Province, Argentina: 5,000[3] — United States: 2,500[4] — Canada: 2,200[5]
Language family	Indo-European Celtic Insular Celtic Brythonic Welsh
Early forms	Old Welsh Middle Welsh
Writing system	Latin (Welsh alphabet)
Official status
Official language in	Wales
Regulated by	Meri Huws, the Welsh Language Commissioner (since 1 April 2012)[6] and the Welsh Government (Llywodraeth Cymru)
Language codes
ISO 639-1	cy
ISO 639-2	wel (B) cym (T)
ISO 639-3	cym
ELP	Welsh
Linguasphere	50-ABA
Percentage of Welsh speakers by principal area

The Welsh language is a Celtic language and the national language of Wales, a country that is part of the United Kingdom. In Welsh, it is known as Cymraeg, or yr iaith Gymraeg, which means "the Welsh language".

Welsh is still spoken throughout the region: about 21% of the people of Wales can speak Welsh. That is about 600,000 people, and some people outside Wales, including those in nearby England. Many people in Wales say they can understand some form of Welsh, such as spoken, written, or can read Welsh, even if they do not speak it all the time.

Even though almost all Welsh people can understand and use the English language, the Welsh language is still an important part of Welsh culture. So children in all schools in Wales have to study it. There are some schools that have almost all of their classes in Welsh, but most schools teach mainly in English. Welsh is taught as a second language in these schools.

1. ↑ Office for National Statistics 2011 http://ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-for-unitary-authorities-in-wales/stb-2011-census-key-statistics-for-wales.html#tab---Proficiency-in-Welsh
2. ↑ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "Refworld | World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - United Kingdom : Welsh". UNHCR. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
3. ↑ "Wales and Argentina". Wales.com website. Welsh Assembly Government. 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
4. ↑ "Table 1. Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over for the United States: 2006-2008 Release Date: April, 2010" (xls). United States Census Bureau. 27 April 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
5. ↑ "2006 Census of Canada: Topic based tabulations: Various Languages Spoken (147), Age Groups (17A) and Sex (3) for the Population of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2006 Census - 20% Sample Data". Statistics Canada. 7 December 2010. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
6. ↑ "Welsh Language Commissioner". Archived from the original on 2018-12-26. Retrieved 2013-03-06.